All His Eggs in One Basket
by Yaji's Girl
Summary: After last being hired by the Red Ribbon Army, Mercenary Tao rediscovers the hitman business.


**This takes place at the very beginning of Dragon Ball Z, in that year that Goku is training with King Kai. All of Tao's employers are named after liquors, so can you guess what this one is named after?**

With his mechanical hand placed firmly on a stucco pillar, Tao turned to the man hiring him and said, "This is nice. What is it made of?"

The man furrowed his bushy, black eyebrows, looking up at the tall and menacing assassin in surprise. He had just been discussing the terms of their agreement, including the salary and what his job entailed he do. Astounded by this sudden question, Techila simply shrugged, the shoulder pads of his blue pinstriped suit raising, and said, "I don't know, plaster, maybe? Now, listen; I think I've got this deal all figured out." This Mercenary Tao fellow was a strange one, but definitely powerful. From his previous records, he was well worth the five billion zeni protection fee, because Techila was a man in need of the best security possible. What he possessed he knew was worth every zeni he paid for: it was a Dragon Ball.

"Hrmm..." was all Tao murmured, pulling himself away from the pink pillar. He followed the shorter man as they continued walking through the corridor, having crossed the whole manor. He listened intently with his eyes darting around, watching for sudden movements. Then, his worries of being listened in on relieved, he interrupted his employer once again to ask, "What exactly do you need of my services? I know you said that you needed security, but I'm not exactly sure of what I'm supposed to be... doing."

Techila's face scrunched up as he was becoming slightly annoyed by the man's questions, seeming to be either repetitive or completely irrelevant. But, with patience, he said without stopping the procession, "I already told you. I'm hiring you to protect my most valuable possession, the Dragon-"

"Yes, I know, I know," Tao drawled, rather bored of this conversation already. Whoever this Techila fellow was, he was obviously new to the crook business. "But what exactly does protecting the Dragon Ball mean? Do you simply want me to wait in front of the vault to prevent intruders from breaking in, or would you rather I hunt down likely thieves?" Then, with a crooked smile, he added, "Each kill will be an additional ten billion zeni."

The man gulped, making a mental note to keep him from killing anybody. Trying to conserve his money, Techila quickly said, "Just stand in front of the vault." Tao's grin slipped, knowing that this would become very boring very quickly. "Try not to kill; just stand in front of the vault and prevent intruders from breaking in."

"But I always kill," Tao said, flipping his braid over his shoulder. "It's part of my... slogan. 'No man left alive'."

Techila clenched his teeth, finally saying, "Fine, but keep the killing to a minimum." Trying to act nonchalant about the whole conversation, having never killed a man in his life and not knowing exactly what he was getting into, he joked, "Try to keep blood off of my carpets. I just had them drycleaned a few weeks ago."

Tao nodded, saying quite seriously, "I always do."

At this response, Techila continued guiding Tao to the vault, questioning his decision of hiring this madman. There was something odd, from his being a cyborg to the words 'KILL YOU' inscribed on the back of his shirt, that made Techila doubt himself. But then he remembered; this man was the best of the best. His hundreds of successes balanced out the few failures, making Techila remember something about the boundaries he had set in place that first meeting. He had said, quite plainly, that if a man with spiky hair was to show up, he wouldn't be willing to defend the treasure. Techila thought that this was fair enough, believing it to be his a relative that he refused to kill or something of that sort. What could one man be compared to the vast resources he had at hand?

The rest of their walk was silent until, finally, they reached a large vault at the end of a grand hallway. Tao crossed his arms, unimpressed by the theatrics the room presented, and followed the shorter man to a small computer screen. The man raised his eyebrows to impress and, tapping on the touchscreen, said slowly and clearly, "Techila." The computer granted him access, and he proceeded to place his palm on the screen with Tao watching, a frown set on his face. All of these rich goons were the same; they thought that the more technologically advanced their security systems were, the better. They enjoyed spending their money on trinkets and unnecessary gadgets, throwing it all away when they could have saved millions by simply hiring a hitman. But it wasn't Tao's place to question the man's tactics; it only mattered that he was getting paid.

Tao held his hands behind his back as he watched as the computer forced Techila through other small games, going through both a laser eye scan and another palm print. Becoming impatient, Tao asked, "Is this almost over?"

Techila winced, assuring him, "Yeah, yeah, I'm almost done." And Tao waited, his lips pursed, as the vault opened after his employer tapped a few things on the screen. He smirked, allowing the man to pass through the open doorway first, pushing aside the vault door with all of his might. Then Tao followed, stepping into the space with his robotic eyes catching the gleam of the orange sphere sitting on a cushion. It was indeed one of the Dragon Balls.

His interest was recaptured as Techila pulled a handkerchief out of his breast pocket and picked the precious ball up with it. He held it up for the lights in the vault, allowing it to reflect light and shine rather magnificently. With pride filling his voice, he asked, "Isn't it a beauty?"

As Tao walked closer, he noticed that it was the three-star. He nodded, cocking his mechanical head to the side, observing the object. He watched as Techila tenderly set it down, allowing it to slide off of the handkerchief and onto the cushion. Then, before Tao could get too close for comfort, Techila began walking towards the door, the assassin silently following behind. The vault door closed behind the two, and Techila asked, "So, what do you think?"

"It's lovely," Tao put simply, his expression vexed as he looked at the closed door. Those Dragon Balls would have been his demise had it not been for his brother so caringly putting him back together. He couldn't help but admit that they were rather nice, though; they would make good ornaments to hang on the heads of his latest victims. But they were a reminder of that first, humiliating failure to a small child. It was embarrassing to have to put on his killing resume, but he was an honest man. To leave that out would be like leaving out that he charged ten billion zeni per kill until after he had massacred a whole village.

"Now, if you'll be willing to start now, I can go ahead and put the money on your account," Techila offered, but Tao shook his head.

"I prefer cash."

Techila blinked at this before clasping his hands together and saying, the smile on his face as fake as the cheer in his voice, "I think I'll be able to arrange that. When do you want to start, then?"

"Now is fine. I'm a trusting man, and I trust that you will pay me in full."

Techila was astounded, but he quickly recovered and nodded. "Good," he stuttered, backing away as the assassin stood there, watching him curiously. "Then I suppose I'll just be going. You - you know what to do?"

"Yes."

"So I can go now?"

"Yes."

"Then I will see you later."

Tao watched as Techila slid around the corner, holding back a laugh at the fool. The man was definitely no expert in being a crook, and it seemed as if Tao would have to teach him a few lessons. His cybernetic eyes leered at the massive vault as he stood there for hours, simply waiting. When dinnertime came and went, he finally budged, pulling out his gun of a right arm. But out of the gun's mouth toppled three hard-boiled eggs, prepared just in case of a situation such as this one. He had boiled them a few nights, before, but he was certain that they would be still be fine to eat. He caught each of the eggs before they hit the ground, cracking them between his robotic fingers. Then he placed each on in his mouth, ingesting them seperately. He placed the egg shells back into the gun, satisfied with his meal.

The morning came, and Techila returned, his pockets stuffed with zeni. He approached the hired assassin tentatively, wondering if he had moved at all that night, seeing him still standing in the same position. But when he saw his employer's entrance, Tao walked towards him and asked, "Do you have the money?"

Techila pulled out the wads of bills from his pockets, each note worth ten million zeni, and began stuffing them into Tao's eager arms. Then he explained, "Now, this is only half of the money. I'll pay you the other half after I see some action."

Tao nodded, simply stating, "That's fair enough." He shrugged his gun arm out of his sleeve, astonishing his hirer. Then he rattled the egg shells out of it and onto the floor. "Excuse the mess," he said as Techila stepped back, trying to keep his polished shoes from being bombarded by falling eggs. Then Tao proceeded to stuff the zeni into his gun, barely managing to fit it all in. Techila watched as the top of the gun closed off, and Tao turned impatiently towards him to ask, "What? Have you never seen a cyborg before?"

Techila didn't say a word, his eyes turned to the egg shell-laden floor. Seeing where his gaze was directed, Tao asked, "Shouldn't you get somebody to clean this up?"

And with that, Techila was gone.

This lasted for a few more days, Tao becoming restless with each coming morning. He dozed frequently, keeping one eye open as he remained a standing position. He hated jobs like these, but it was easy money. And fewer people had been hiring him lately due to his few hiccups, so any job was a job. Techila came to check on him a couple of times each day, amazed by the man's patience. He had never met anybody quite like this Mercenary Tao, whoever he was.

It was on the fourth morning that the assassin closed both of his eyes in concentration. He listened to a series of alarms go off, one by one, filling the halls with a cacophonous noise. He could hear heavy breathing and hurried footsteps through the corridors, acknowledging this with surprise: it sounded like a woman's voice, of all things. He gritted his teeth, wondering what kind of madness this was. It was a woman that was getting past the security, managing to get past automated machine guns and other weapons.

But, as quickly as his anger came, it passed. This would be an easy mission, seeing as it wasn't that annoying Goku boy. He smirked a little as he bent down, assuming a fighting stance after flipping his braid out of the way. He snorted, eager to surprise the trespasser with a few surprises he had up his sleeve.

But he was the one to be surprised as he saw a blond-haired woman leap out from behind the wall, a large bazooka in his arms and pointed straight at him. Both of their faces fell as they recognized one another, Tao unable to believe his eyes. It was Hasky, of all the people to be tangled with. She had been one of the thieves also hired to work for the Red Ribbon Army, but Tao never knew that she had survived her failed mission. He snarled, unable to conceive the idea that she was actually working against him now. It was impossible.

He considered dropping his arms and seeing if she would do the same, but he let that idea slide quickly. It would be no fun to simply come to terms with the woman, and that would be ten billion less zeni in his pocket. So he smirked, not intimidated in the slightest by the large weapon she was carrying. The blond-haired woman, however, was too stunned to even fire her weapon.

It was then that Tao bit his lip, hearing footsteps behind her. She had probably brought her henchmen along for the ride, helping her in her quest to steal the Dragon Balls for her own selfish needs. But it was of no matter. He could easily kill them all; the woman wasn't a great enough threat that the legendary Mercenary Tao would be afraid of her and her team.

Tao was shocked yet again, though, when he saw who rounded the corner. Instead of it being the tall, lanky man and the fat, brown hog she had claimed to be her cohorts, he saw a rather threatening-looking Tien Shinhan and a small, bald midget following him. Everybody stopped what they were doing, simply surveying their opponent with either fear or eagerness. It would be Tao's pleasure to get revenge on his pupil who had turned on him, making a fool of the assassin in front of thousands of people. So he grinned, his smile set in place as he bowed down and called, "Good to see you, Shinhan!" He eyed the scar on his old pupil's chest with glee, glad to have left such a mark on the boy.

Tien was still too shocked to move, having not expected to see his old master here, of all places. But his reflexes kicked in right as Tao aimed his metallic hand in a karate chop at his head, grabbing it quickly and forcing the assassin to the ground. Mercilessly, Tien shoved his foot into Tao's spine and ended the fight as quickly as it had started, yelling over the blaring sirens, "Do you give up?"

"Yes!" Tao replied, his voice weak as his spine crushed under the man's weight. "I give up! Now let me go!"

Tao realized quickly, as Tien allowed him to stand back up again, that he was no match for his opponent. He would have to continue training for a few more years before he could seek vengeance, so he ran away, not giving a second thought as to why Hasky and Shinhan would be working together. The short, bald man almost ran after them, but Tien put his hand on his shoulder, preventing him from chasing the ruthless killer. The last words they saw were 'KILL YOU' flashing on the back of his pink robe as he dodged through a rain of bullets.

The assassin quickly located the pink pillar he had seen a few days earlier, and as quickly as possible, he gave it a quick chop at the bottom and top. Then he ran through the window with in his arms, using it to break the glass. He threw it in the air and jumped onto it, soaring off into the distance with an astonished Techila running to the window, unable to believe his eyes. At least he had managed to make off with two and a half billion zeni. He would have the chance to rebuild his career, but he knew that he couldn't face Shinhan yet. He would have to become stronger for that final fight.

Tien watched with distaste as he watched his old master retreat, having stopped Krillin from chasing the man. He muttered, only loudly enough for him to hear over the deafening noises, "He's not worth fighting." Then he turned to Launch angrily, seeing her at a standstill with the bazooka in her hands, and asked loudly, "What were you thinking, running around the corner like that? If he wasn't so stunned to see you for some reason, he would have killed you!"

"Don't worry, Tien, I've got this all figured out." And with one blast from her bazooka, she managed to break the vault door down easily. She stepped through the doorway and lifted the Dragon Ball in her hands, shaking her head and muttering, "I've got it all figured out."

**Okay, now that you've read it (I think), I will confess that I have, once again, introduced some Launch/Tien. Ah well. Oh, and one more explanation... I believe that, originally, Mr. Popo was simply sent to retrieve all of the Dragon Balls for Goku's revival. In this, however, I decided that it would be more fun with some other characters sent on a mission. I hope you enjoyed!**


End file.
